Last week’s Sonics fiasco cost Seattle more than a basketball team. Some residents also lost faith in local politicians, claiming their elected officials did not fight hard enough against the forces that would move the team to Oklahoma City. …

I’m sitting outside the Sonics Store by Key Arena and everything – I mean everything – is on sale. The mob that gathered soon after the store opened at 10 a.m. is gone, but there’s still a steady flow of customers that employees don’t expect to taper off anytime soon. …

Hear that? It’s a death knell. A funeral choir. The slice of a hacksaw. Whatever. It’s the sound of a city losing a vital piece of its identity. No politician should ever expect love from his public. But in the next several days, Nickels is likely to get nothing but hate. …